Editorial by Carl Rodriguez

Many gift-giving traditions occur during Christmas in North America. Each family that celebrates the event has their own historical and cultural basis for the exchange of presents.

Even the Magi in the time of Christ’s birth gave gifts to show appreciation for the bountiful blessings God had bestowed on them. Matthew 2:11 records this event: “On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh” (NIV).

Editorial by Jerry Lutz

With all the evangelistic meetings and prophecy seminars that have been going on in our conference this year, such as our twin outreach initiatives, Pentecost 2025 and Reach Baltimore 2025, there are likely some unfamiliar faces and new members in your church. For this, we praise God and welcome them with open arms into the fellowship of believers. How wonderful it is to see how the Lord is blessing Chesapeake churches with hundreds of baptisms and many more who are preparing to join God’s great advent movement.

While we rejoice with the saved and celebrate every new soul who enters the kingdom, we who are more mature in our walk with Jesus and better grounded in the faith must be mindful of the special care and needs of our newborn brothers and sisters in Christ.

Story by Ken Flemmer

Last Friday, the "Food 4 Families" campaign, hosted by NBC4 Washington and Telemundo 44 Washington, granted Adventist Community Services of Greater Washington (ACSGW) in Silver Spring, Md., 50 Thanksgiving turkeys, including sides. Allegheny East Conference's Metropolitan church in Hyattsville, Md., also received 50 baskets. These donations were facilitated by the Capital Area Food Bank. Additional support was provided by Montgomery County government and the City of Takoma Park.

Washington Adventist University (WAU) is proud to announce that its accelerated online Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) program has been named one of Forbes Advisor’s Top 10 Best Online Accelerated M.B.A. Programs of 2025. The recognition places WAU among the nation’s leading institutions offering flexible, high-impact, and career-focused graduate business education.

Adventist HealthCare has been named to Newsweek’s 2025 list of Most Trustworthy Companies in America. The rankings were determined by examining three main public pillars of trust – customer trust, potential investor trust, and potential employee trust – as well as evaluating online remarks.

Of the thousands of companies that met the initial analysis threshold across all industries, only 700 companies were named most trustworthy nationwide, including only 16 Maryland-based companies.

In the Healthcare and Life Sciences category, which included a broad range of health systems, pharmaceutical companies, online wellness firms and other health services, Adventist HealthCare ranked 17th out of the 33 organizations named.